Nara Park with preschoolers (4–6) 3 spots
A 511-hectare prefectural park holding Todaiji and Kasuga Taisha inside it.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
A temple whose wooden hall, among the world's largest, shelters a 15-meter Great Buddha.
Stroller OK · Changing table · Elevator · checked Aug ’26
A shrine founded in 768, with some 3,000 lanterns given along its approach and cloisters.
Changing table · Family restroom · checked Aug ’26
They can watch deer gather to the sound of a horn. "Natsu no Shikayose" is held on the Kasuga Taisha grounds at Tobihino, starting at 9:00 and lasting about 15 minutes, no reservation, free (in 2026 on ten days between 19 July and 27 September; held in rain, cancelled in storms). At Rokuen, where rescued deer can be seen close up (10:00-16:00, free entry), there are explanation panels and a deer quiz corner, and each visitor gets one free sample bag of "Shikappi," a fertiliser made from fermented deer droppings. Wakakusayama, the grass hill, is 342 meters high, with the city of Nara spread out below from the top.Wakakusayama opens only during its season (third Saturday of March to second Sunday of December), 9:00-17:00, at 150 yen for junior high age and up and 80 yen for children 3 and over. Nara Prefecture warns in its own words: "the slope is steeper than you expect. Take special care coming down so you do not tumble." Rokuen states that it "is not barrier-free inside," "has no rubbish bins," and "has no car park" (closed in early November for the antler-cutting event). With no bins anywhere in the park, everything you open goes home with you. Two numbers are worth writing down: Nara Park Office 0742-22-0375, and the Nara Park Deer Consultation Room 0742-26-7755 for injuries caused by deer.
This is a place where "how big is it" can be checked in numbers. The Great Buddha is 14.98 m tall, with a face 5.33 m long, ears 2.54 m, eyes 1.02 m, and a nose 0.50 m high. The temple publishes more: the left palm measures about 1.8 m from the wrist to the base of the middle finger, and the foot about 3 m from heel to the base of the big toe. The hall around it is among the largest wooden buildings in the world, 57.012 m east to west, 50.480 m north to south, 48.742 m high. The audio guide is 500 yen per person, and Japanese is the one language offered in both an adult and a children's version (lent 15 meters past the Daibutsuden ticket check, before the Chumon gate).Admission is charged per hall: 800 yen for adults and 400 yen for elementary school children, paid separately at the Great Buddha Hall, Hokkedo, Kaidan-in Kaidando, and the Todaiji Museum (a combined ticket for the hall and museum is 1,200 yen for junior high age and up, 600 yen for elementary). Cash only; credit cards are not accepted. No reservation is needed. Watch the order you walk in, because closing times differ: the Great Buddha Hall is 7:30-17:30 from April to October and 8:00-17:00 from November to March, but Hokkedo (Sangatsudo) and Kaidan-in Kaidando close at 16:00 all year, so leaving them until after the Great Buddha Hall can mean finding them shut. The children's audio guide and the free pamphlet are in Japanese only.
The sketching meet Kasugataisha holds each year lists nursery and kindergarten children among those eligible to take part (the 74th was July 19, 2026; 500 yen, drawing paper handed out at reception, and a certificate for every participant). On the ground floor of the treasure hall stands one of the largest dadaiko drums in Japan, 6.5 meters tall, set into a sunken floor so that you look up at it. As for the lanterns, there are about 2,000 stone ones and about 1,000 hanging ones.Entering the grounds is free, but the special visit that takes you into the lantern-hung cloisters and Fujinami-no-ya costs 700 yen, and no child rate is given anywhere official. The shrine publishes in advance the days those cloisters are closed for rites, so check your date: closed all day around March 8 to March 13, December 20 to January 7, and Coming-of-Age Day; closed in the morning on the 1st, 11th and 21st of every month, among others. The treasure hall is 300 yen for elementary and junior high students, and the Manyo Botanical Garden is 300 yen for children (junior high and under). The shrine describes itself as having many stairs and level changes.